This invention relates to a container for supporting a plurality of bingo cards to enable a user to play a substantial number of different cards during the same game.
The game of "bingo" has been one of the world's most popular games for many decades. In addition to being played as a home or parlor game, bingo is played by large audiences in gambling casinos, and is frequently used as a fund raising event by thousands of churches and charitable institutions.
Because a player can directly increase his probabilities of winning in any particular game, many players have become proficient at a playing a substantial number of different cards during the same game. These cards are either spread out on a table in front of the player, or are stacked along a rack in side-by-side fashion, permitting the player to rapidly scan the cards each time a number is called to see if the number is present on any of the cards. Using this technique, a player can become adept at playing about eight different cards.
Other box-type apparatus have been devised in an effort to increase the number of cards which a player can play during each game. Applicant has known in the past of box-type devices in which bingo cards are stacked in front-to-back alignment for holding the cards during the play of the game. In additin, applicant is aware of a number of devices in the patent literature which have some resemblance to his bingo card holder.
A number of prior art patents exist in the filing device art. For example, Koepke, U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,699, relates to a filing unit for office use to store loose papers of the type utilized by a bookkeeper. The device consists of a shelf member having a plurality of pivotally mounted removable dividers. Zinnbauer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,871 provides a similar storage cabinet for print albums. Albums can be stacked longitudinally in the storage cabinet between sets of dividers. Weiss, U.S. Pat. No. 1,116,184, and Ringlar, U.S. Pat. No. 1,325,537, both disclose filing cabinets having a removable divider for retaining varying quantities of filed materials.
Kasik, U.S. Pat. No. 628,943, shows a rack useful for storing metal note-discs of the type used on old nickelodeons. The rack has two outwardly extending end support members which hold the discs in an almost vertical position. A very similar device for holding phonograph records is shown in Blodget, U.S. Pat. No. 2,489,476.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a container for stacking a plurality of bingo cards in adjacent front-to-back parallel alignment such that a user can rapidly flip through a large number of cards to determine if a number which has been called is present on any of the cards. It is a further object of the invention to provide a bingo card holder which is adjustable to contain anywhere from a few cards to 30 or more cards. It is a further object of the invention to provide a bingo card holder having means to prevent slippage of the bottom of the cards along the holder during use.